Improved shoe-fastening



@atten tstee getest @Hire GER-ARD SICKELS, OFBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters .Patent No. 64,155, dated April 23, 1867.

IMPROVED SHQE-FASTENING.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY OONCERN:

Be it known that I, GERARD SICKELS, of Boston, in the county of Sutt'olk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an improved Shoe-Fastener; and 1 do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part ol' this specification, is a description of my invention soilicient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. l I

This invent-ion relates to the construction of' ashore-lacing, fastening, or tightening device, intended particularly as a substitute forshoe-buckles; and it consists in a plate or stein through or around which the lacing, strap, or other piece connecting the daps or opposite sides ot' the shoe-front passes, so that by twisting or reversing, or partially reversing',- this plate 'or stem, the slack of the lacing or strap is taken up, means being combined with the device to retain the lacing in the tightened position into which it is carried by such twisting, reversing, or turning. Many forms of the device may be used, but that which I now consider preferableis shown in the drawings at A, one part of a shoe-front being therein shown as laced or fastened, and one part as loose.

Each strap a, projecting from the iap l1, passes through slots e, in a thin plate, d, lthe opposite end of the strap being secured to the under ap-piece e. Nowby turning the plate d vertically, carrying its edgef down under'tlie tlap it will be readily seen that the slack in the strap is taken up by this reversal of the plate, and to hold the strap so tightened the hooked end of a slide, g, slidingin a fixed piece, h, is slipped over the edge of the plate, as shown at A. Modifications of this construction and arrangement are shown atB C D and E. At B the lacingr or tie z' passes through holes in a long plate, 7c, andthe ends boincr secured to the opposite flap-pieces of the slice, the plate is turned end for end, thereby twisting the lacing and taking' up the slack, the plate being secured from turning back by dropping its ends between pins or projections Z, extending up from the ilapfpieces, the stra-in produced upon the lacing holding the plate in position, while by raising it from the projections, and allowing the lacing to untwist, the strain upon the flaps is removed, and the shoe may then be taken ofi', At C the string or lacing passes between two pins, joining two circula-1' pla-tes or disks, rotation of the plates vinding the lacing around the pins and taking up the slack, the plates being kept frein reverse nioveuient by two projections at the ends of a hinge, m, turned down against the lacing when. it is suilciently tightened, while by turning the hinge back the lacing is allowed to unwind. At D the lacing passes between the disks and through a central stem, around which it is wound by rotationl of the plates, it being kept from back movement by clocking har, n. At E the lacing passes between two concave plates and through the inner one, Iand being wound around between them is kept in tightened position by slipping the opposite parts into notches in the edgeof' the upper plate. i l V It will be readily seen that the same' invention is embodied in al1 of these modifications, as is shown at A, the principle being to take up the slack in the string, lacing, strap, or other flexible fastening, with a device through which the fastening passes, by reverse or rotative movement of this device, and means for retaining it in its reverse position. With the device made as seen at A, series of holes m are cut along each strap, through any one of which a tongue, n, projecting from the fixed piece z is slipped; these holes and the tongue enabling the length of' that part ot' the strap tightened by the plate e to be adjusted as circumstances-may render desirable. In the moditicationsseen at B C D and E, the sainei'csult is attained by ypli-icingthe knots or stops in the lacing under the eyes o at a greater or less distance from the rotatingior reversingv device. t

I claim a shoe-fastening device constructed to operato substantially-as set forth. i

i "GERARD" SICKELS. Witnesses l J. B. Cnosnr, F. GOULD. 

